Needing to stay awake
by NinjaEnergy
Summary: Mikey's currently hiding away from his siblings working on an art project. He has another reason why he is hiding and focusing on his art. Leave it to big brother Leo to help his little brother out after a series of nightmares. There's fluff in here! After oots, 2k16.


A/N: Hey, guys! I promise that I'm still working on my other story (strangely enough, I have two chapters going at the same time for it, both still unfinished) but I this just popped in my head and had to come out. The amount of fluff between Mikey and Leo in this story is way up there, but I had to do it. Hopefully you all like it too! After oots, 2k16.

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"Hey, Mikey."

Mikey glanced up from his drawing for a moment, smiling at his oldest sibling, then went back to his picture. "Hey Leo. What's up?"

"Nothing, just seeing what you were up to." Leo took a seat next to his baby brother, watching his brother in his element for a few moments before breaking the peaceful silence. "You've been pretty quiet the last few days. Is everything alright?"

The orange clad turtle stopped coloring in a section of the picture and shrugged. "Everything's good, bro." Mikey confirmed. "Just finishing this thing up. It's taking longer than I thought it would."

Leo nodded in agreement. "You usually draw in your alcove up top, or in the living room. I've never seen you stay up here in the pipes for this long. Even to focus on a drawing."

"I know, I just wanted some place quiet, as hard as that is to believe. I'll stop in a couple of minutes and then head to bed. I promise, Leo."

"Head to bed?" Leo couldn't help but laugh. "It's 6:00 in the morning, bud. You pulled a Donnie and stayed awake all night."

That made Mikey stop working on his drawing and finally look up at his brother. He looked exhausted; like he hadn't slept in days, not just one night."That can't be right, Leo. I just started this a few minutes ago. It's midnight, tops."

"Nope, sorry kiddo. It's early morning. I got up and saw you weren't in your bed and started searching everywhere for you. Finally found you up here, after searching for almost a half hour for you."

"Sorry, Leo."

"It's ok, Mikey. At least I found you." He took the pencil and drawing pad from the other's hand and set them down.

"Hey! I wasn't done yet!" Mikey pouted. "Give them back!"

"Not until I get some answers out of you. You look like you haven't slept in days." Mikey looked up with a guilty look on his face. "When _did_ you last have a full night's sleep, little bro?"

"Uhh, a few days I guess?" Mikey admitted. He saw the worry in his oldest brother's eyes and tried to play it down. "I've been playing this new game that Donnie got for me and I've been hooked on it, but I was stuck on this one part and I kept trying for a few days and lost track of time and then I stopped for a little while. Then I figured I'd start drawing instead to get my mind of that game and apparently I really got into the drawing and…"

"Mikey," Leo interrupted, "you're rambling. And when you ramble that means that you're lying. C'mon, what is this about anyway?"

Mikey shrugged. "It's nothing, bro. It'll pass. The question is why are _you_ up so early in the morning? Hmm?" He hoped to change the subject as quickly as he could. He didn't want to talk about what he's been bothering him and affecting his sleep for the last 4 days.

"I'm usually up to meditate at this time." Leo informed his sibling. "I noticed this morning that you weren't in your bed like you usually are at that time and it worried me."

Leo gently punched Mikey in the shoulder. "It's obviously something worse than being stuck at a part of a video game and wanting to finish a drawing." He nudged his youngest brother. "You can tell me."

"It's a stupid reason, Leo." Mikey said, wanting to end the discussion there and now. "I'm good."

"If it's keeping you from sleeping, then it's not a stupid reason, Mikey."

"You'll think I'm stupid for dreaming of it in the first place."

 _Ouch._ Leo thought inwardly. _Still on that no brains thing._ "Look, everyone has things they're afraid of. You're not stupid for being afraid of something. Honestly. I just want to help you here Mike, what's wrong?"

Silence. _Fine, a guessing game. I'm good at those._

"Is it about the Krang?" Mikey's head shot up, eyes not hiding his surprise. _Wow, got it on the first try. Wait…_ "Do your injuries still hurt? Is that why you're awake all night? We should tell Donnie then, he'll have another look at…"

"Leo, dude, they don't keep me awake. I mean sure, they wake me up sometimes if I turn onto them when I'm asleep, but they're not agonizing like they were before."

"Agonizing?!" The blue clad turtle repeated. "You said they hurt you, but not that much. Now you're saying that they were _agonizing!?_ Mikey, you need to tell us these things, bud. Communicate. You're going to see Donnie after we talk about whatever it is about the Krang that's bugging you. Got it?"

Mikey looked at his brother for a few moments before conceding. "Fine, you win. I'll go see Donnie about them. Now can I have my stuff back?"

His older brother shook his head and smirked. "Not a chance. You're avoiding the main issue. What was your dream about?"

Mikey sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win this battle. "It starts the way things happened. You know, Krang catching me and wanting to become hug buddies. That part doesn't change." Mikey sighed and fell silent again.

"So...what's the part that changed?"

"The part where you tell me to hang on and when the three of you get me out doesn't happen." At the thought of his dream, Mikey hung his head to hide the tears in his eyes, sadness overcoming him. His brother took note of it as well and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What happens instead Mikey?" Leo asked quietly. "Were we too late and the Krang squished you?"

Mikey shook his head no.

"Then, what happens?"

"You told him to kill me."

Well, _that_ was not what Leo was expecting to hear. "I what?" He asked, shocked. "Why did I do that?"

"You told him that he'd be doing all of you a favor by getting rid of me." Mikey wiped the tears that were now falling freely and sniffled. With a shaky voice he continued retelling his dream to a bewildered big brother. "I called out to you guys and begged you to save me, but you all turned away and said that it was for the best that I was gone. You said that I had done so many things in the past to bother everyone, that everybody would be happier and just safer with me no longer around." He paused and seemed as though he wanted to say something else, but stopped himself. He instead lowered his head to his knees, crying silently, wishing the tears would stop so he wouldn't look so weak in front of his oldest brother.

Leo sat there for a few moments, mind blank as to what to do next, too shocked to really _do_ anything. He did note that Mikey seemed to be holding something back, though. "Was there anything else that happens in your dream?"

Mikey nodded. Leo wrapped his arm around the other's shoulders, absentmindedly rubbing Mikey's arm to console him. He felt Mikey lean into him a little and smiled. He then asked as gently as he could, what else occurs in his dream.

"I don't see it every time I dream it." Mikey admitted with a shaky sigh. "But after I'm dead, Krang drops me on the ground and the three of you kick me off the side of the Technodrome." Leo tightened his grip on his blue-eyed brother. "Before you kick me off, you say to each other that even if a scientist would find my body that there's nothing they could do with it since I couldn't do much of anything anyway. Raph then says that I would be as useless dead as I was alive and the scientists would be disappointed in such a useless specimen. You and Donnie laugh and agree with him."

Leo closed his eyes, holding his little brother close. He wouldn't have thought his little brother would be capable of dreaming something so truly disturbing, but clearly, he was. The blue banded leader knew that under no circumstances would the three oldest let anything happen to Mikey, but it seemed like their brother had his doubts.

Leo wasn't the best at consoling, but he had to try. His baby brother was in shambles next to him, thanks to a disturbing nightmare that is making him stay awake, afraid to fall asleep, and hide from his siblings.

"Is that dream why you've been hiding up here doing your art instead of down in the main area?"

Mikey nodded. "You know that we would never think of letting that happen to you, or think of ever _doing_ something like that to you, right?"

Another nod.

"Then why stay up here, alone. You _hate_ being alone. We all know you do."

"Because, what if my dream is trying to tell me something that's true in the real world that I'm just too blind to see myself?" Mikey explained. "What if my getting in the way and bugging everyone eventually makes everyone get to the point where they think having Krang kill me _is_ a good idea?"

"Mikey, that wouldn't happen. I promise you, a situation like that would never happen."

"You can't promise things like that."

"Of course I can. I can promise you, within a shadow of a doubt, that there is no way myself, Raph, or Donnie would ever tell Krang, or anyone else for that matter, to kill you. It's impossible."

"But I annoy all of you."

"And?" Leo looked at his little brother and smiled. "It's a little brother's job to be annoying. I'm pretty sure that if there's a secret baby brother handbook out there, that 'annoying the hell out of your older siblings' would be the first on the list of things that must be done as a baby brother."

Mikey couldn't help but laugh. "Just like there's a secret oldest brother handbook out there that has 'having to put up with younger siblings who are annoying' and 'having to console them when they have a bad dream, no matter how old they get' on your list."

"Pretty much." Leo smiled. "It's a tough job, but it's one that I'm happy to do." Leo patted his little brother on the shell and looked down in the other's eyes. "But seriously, Mike. We'd never do anything like that to you. You can be annoying sure, but you're also the most caring little brother around. You make us laugh, you keep us going, you remind us to stop looking at the bad in everything and to have fun as a family. There's no way we'd ever give you up."

Mikey looked up at his oldest brother, tears filling his eyes. "Really, bro? You all think that way about me?" He jumped up and hugged Leo, to the point that he was nearly choking him. "Thanks Leo."

Leo hugged Mikey back with the same fervor, earning a yelp from the youngest and a loosening of the iron grip around him. "Anytime, little brother." Leo released the hug and looked down to the lair below. "Everyone should be starting to wake up by now. Want to head down and get some breakfast before we have to step over everyone else?"

Mikey nodded enthusiastically, eyes wide with excitement at the prospect of food, making Leo laugh at his excitement. "Absolutely bro! But uh, can I have my art stuff back now?"

"After we see Donnie. I don't trust that you wouldn't try to hide somewhere and avoid his checking you out."

"Fine." Mikey pouted. "Let's go eat!" He jumped down, Leo on his heels, only to find Donnie waiting for him when he got to the ground. Mikey didn't even get two words in before Donnie started scanning him. "Dude! How did you know?"

"I was awake and it was impossible not to hear Leo yell about you and your agonizing injury." Donnie informed his brother as he was preparing the tools he needed to check on the younger turtle. "Stay still, Mikey."

"Have ever mentioned how violating that scanner thing feels, bro?" Mikey stated, watching as Donnie looked at the readings, and wrote something down on a notepad.

"Every time, Mikey." Donnie deadpanned. "However, it's with good reason that it feels so invasive. You have a lung infection. The ribs have almost completely healed though, which is good, but your shell will still be sensitive for a while. However, since you weren't able to breathe correctly because of the ribs, it caused fluid buildup in your lungs, hence the infection."

"You can fix it right, Donnie?" Raph asked as he entered the room, looking at his baby brother, then to Leo, then to the pipes above them, then back to Mikey and raised an eye ridge. Mikey simply shrugged shyly and looked down. Leo smiled towards Raph letting him know that everything should now be ok.

"Of course I can, Raph." Donnie said, slightly insulted. "A round of antibiotics for a couple of weeks will clear this right up and you'll be good as new, Mikey."

Mikey sighed, he hated pills. "Fine, if that's what I gotta do, then I gotta do it. Thanks, bro." He turned towards the kitchen to get a bowl of cereal for breakfast.

Three sets of eyes watched Mikey make breakfast, and three turtles started snickering."Uh, Mikey? Maybe you should get some sleep first before having breakfast." Leo suggested, trying not to laugh at his baby brother to his face.

"Hmm? Why?" He looked up and saw his other brothers smirking at him as well.

"You just put salt over your cereal, bud." Raph informed him.

Mikey looked at what he thought was sugar and shook his head. "Huh, I knew that."

"Why don't you get some sleep first, then eat. You'll be fine without food for a while."

Mikey's face paled at the thought of sleep. "But Leo," he asked, sounding frightened. "What if it comes back?"

Leo gently helped his brother off the dining room chair while Donnie emptied the bowl. He led Mikey to the living room couch and helped him get comfortable.

"You can sleep out here so you can hear us nearby." Leo comforted. "That dream won't ever come back and it definitely will never really happen. I promised remember? We'll take care of you and make sure nothing ever gets you." Leo looked up and noted his two other brothers were looking at them questioningly, wondering what all had happened between the two of them earlier this morning. Leo made a mental note to talk to them about it later. For now, the oldest took the blanket from off the back of the couch and tucked Mikey in. "Just get some sleep, little one, you need it."

Mikey looked up at his big brother, more relaxed than he'd been in days. He nodded at the other's last comment and tucked himself further into the blankets and closed his eyes. "Thanks, Leo, you're an awesome big bro." Mikey smiled when he felt his brother rub his head gently and then slowly drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

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Thank you guys for reading! If you don't mind, please let me know if this was any good, or if I should just stick to the sad/angsty stuff.


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